Asked About Gay Rights, Boehner Sticks to Economy

One day after President Barack Obama roiled the political world by declaring his support for gay marriage, House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) Thursday seemed determined to keep his distance from the subject.

Pressed on the gay marriage issue at his weekly press conference, Mr. Boehner repeatedly tried to steer the discussion back to the economy. “The American people are concerned about the economy,’’ he said in response to one question. “I’m going to stay focused on what the American people want,’’ he said to another.

He had no comment on an anti-gay-marriage amendment approved by the House near midnight Wednesday, just hours after Mr. Obama said in an interview that he had dropped his past opposition to gay marriage.

“We have a lot of members who have ideas about what is important to them,’’ Mr. Boehner said of the amendment, which that cut off funding to the Department of Justice to pursue any legal action challenging the Defense of Marriage Act. The amendment by Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas passed 245-171 — a largely party line vote with 16 Democrats voting for it and 7 Republicans voting against it.

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